2 killed in Phoenix mobile home fire, three others badly hurt
PHOENIX - Two people are dead after a mobile home fire in Phoenix on Sunday, and three others are in the hospital.
The fire happened on Nov. 24 near 24th Street and Union Hills Drive.
It was an emotional day as family members learned their loved ones died in the fire. A friend of the victims, who was there when the fire broke out, says everyone in the home was sleeping.
"I ran crying because I couldn't do nothing. This is for real. I couldn't do nothing because I was a girl and I had my own kids," the victims' friend, Marisol Ross Lopez, said.
She doesn’t know how the fire started, but two of her friends were stuck in the back of the house.
"They're looking at me, like to help them, but I can't help them," Ross Lopez said.
She says they had no way out. The fire took off in a matter of seconds, and the flames reached the home next door.
Ross Lopez said she heard what sounded like an explosion. She wasn't the only one who heard it.
"Just crazy. Like it was an explosion, and it was just very crazy because everybody heard it and everybody came outside," said Axel Ramirez, a neighbor.
The entire home was burned on both sides.
"They just blew up in the middle, and it was just like flames rising," Ramirez said.
The Phoenix Fire Department is stressing the importance of having working smoke detectors.
"Have your smoke detectors installed," said Phoenix Fire Capt. Todd Keller. "They absolutely do save lives."
The cause of the fire is pending.
Loved ones identified one of the victims as David Hernandez, 38.
Neighbors say all five victims were men who lived together.
A day later
The next day, a memorial was set up outside the mobile home where the two men died.
A man across the street says he felt helpless trying to make a hole through the side of the house to get the two men out. He didn’t want to show his face on camera or pubically give his name.
"They’re both not here anymore, so it hurts a lot," a family friend named Norma Garay said. "It’s very sad."
New video shows neighbors rushing to help as the fire quickly consumed the entire mobile home.
"You could hear screams. You didn’t know if it was inside the house or outside from the neighbors, but it was just awful," a neighbor named Warren Senyk said.
Loved ones of Hernandez gathered outside the home, paying their respects with flowers, candles, and prayers. Friends say the landscaper was a father of six kids.
"A very hard-working guy," Garay said. "A hard worker, very responsible."
The neighbor who didn't want to be identified says he ran over with a sledgehammer to break open a door or window.
"We felt helpless. We tried everything to help get them out, but there was nothing we could do," he said. "It gives me some comfort knowing I could help one guy get out, but it’s so sad they lost their lives."
He feels helpless but did everything he could to save them.
He tried to help two men who were screaming for their uncle. They tried kicking down the door, but it was locked. Then, using a sledgehammer, they were able to make a hole through the side of the home into a back bedroom.
That’s when another person got stuck inside. They were able to pull him out, with severe burns on his face and arms.
"Everything was really fast, and it was so hot and all the smoke, I couldn’t breathe," he said. "I tried to help in any way I could."